Eleven different Fusarium species were isolated from various infected plant materials and screened to select a potential species for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. All the isolates were identified on the basis of cultural and microscopic characteristics using Fusarium identification keys. For the confirmation of preliminary identified isolates of Fusarium species, online BLAST analysis was carried out. All the eleven species demonstrated the ability for synthesis of silver nanoparticles. This was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, which gave characteristic peak around 420 nm. Further confirmation of silver nanoparticles was carried out using nanoparticles tracking analysis (NTA), zeta potential, photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The smallest size of silver nanoparticles was synthesized by F. oxysporum (3-25 nm) and largest size silver nanoparticles were synthesized by F. solani (3-50 nm).
silver nanoparticles; Fusarium; NTA; zeta potential; TEM
